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Ranieri still looking for Kante's midfield partner

With Esteban Cambiasso set to leave and Matty James injured, manager Claudio Ranieri says Leicester City need more midfield reinforcements.

Published

7 August 2015

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri is still looking for another central midfielder despite having signed N'Golo Kante this week.

Kante's transfer from Caen was confirmed on Monday and Ranieri reckons he is ready-made for the Premier League, although the Italian manager believes Leicester remain undermanned in the middle of the park.

With Esteban Cambiasso expected to leave for Olympiacos and Matty James (knee) potentially sidelined until December, Ranieri wants one more player to back up the likes of Kante, Danny Drinkwater and Andy King.

"I want to build the team more or less like last season," Ranieri said, according to the Leicester Mercury.

"There are not the two central midfielders who played all the time last season, James and Cambiasso.

"I wanted to replace one with Kante, and another I am still waiting for - if it's possible, with the same experience but younger than Cambiasso.

"The market is very difficult but the club is working very hard, 24 hours a day.

"Sometimes I go to sleep, but the people at the club do not so they can find my player."

On Kante, 24, who played 37 games in Ligue 1 last term, Ranieri said: "Kante is a fantastic tackler. He is the first in the top five divisions in Europe. For recovering balls, he is the second. That is Kante."